[PP-F10] Shadows returning to light

[Azhoda 0]

Shadows walk calmly, figures of long-forgotten passed wandering the halls of this long-forgotten prison. Walls lined up with cells filled with despair and madness, yet all seemed quiet the deeper you walked into Tartarus. Deep within its walls seemed to walk someone, not a shadow or spirit. Not hunting or going mad, but just survival on the last few materials they had on hand.

A flash of red quickly went for a shadow that drew its weapon. There were some flashes and quick cuts, but the shadow had no time to respond to the, in their eyes, escaped prisoner. Az was exhausted. She had been here maybe a week, no longer, maybe three or so. Her old weapon had already broken, and she had to fall back to her first ever equipment, which was a shield and a claw weapon. 

The redhead's health bar was halfway down their total as she placed her hands on her knees. "Stop respawning for ONCE!" She said with heavy breath and the sounds of exhaustion. She leaned against a cell door, which swung open, making her fall backwards into the cell. "Aw!" came out quickly as she lay on the ground. She looked at the door that was already almost off its hinges as she leaned against it. Glancing, she noticed she was in a more open cell used as a storage at some point, as boxes covered the walls. With her current Health and wholly lost, she leaned against some boxes and opened her menu.

"Please just bloody work again," she said as she scrolled toward her friend list and tried to navigate the weird mess that seemed to be her menu. There were no names there, just letters jumping between other letters, and they did not make any sense. But she typed in her message anyway.
 

Quote

H̸͓̱͙̮̞͓̍͑͆̽̕͜͝͝ẹ̵͚̺͓̦̈́̓̇͒͜l̶̳͍̓͐͗͆̒̍̔̅̈́͒̽̿͘͝l̸̰̱̩̪̱̝̫̘͇͖̹̓͑̚ơ̴̡̨̧̢̞̖͉̖͇̿͌̓͗̀̌̕ ̶̢̹͖͔̣̫͔̱͉̘̔̿͛̐̋̀ͅŅ̷̧͎͕̞̜̼̲͚̟̩̾͛̇̌͊̓͑̃̇͆̏͘͠͝.̴̧̡̦̰̹̰̣͖͍̤̖̠̪̓̀͐̏̂̅̚͜.̸͎̮̻̪̗͙̇̌̄͗̋̅͝G̴̢͎̥̓̂͛̒̂̈́̚͘.̴̠̹̭̮͗,̶͎̠̗̯̝̻̂́̎̇̀͌͒̈̄̃́̐̓̚ͅ
̷̼͓͇̺͎̣̟͖͇̬͇̣̬̗̹̓͛
̸̛̙̜̦̋͛ͅḮ̶̧̫̜̞̲͕̞̝̖̤͇͋͛͊͐̾̌̉̚͝m̷̘̻͓̟̓͛̽̿̈́̽̍̕̚͜.̷͚͕̀̐̂͆͛̽̆͋͋͋̚͜.̶̬̹̳̣̦̝̟͖̳̫̻̩̝̪̮̿͐̓̔͠.̶̡̨̛̞͓̪̘̬͑̄̿͌͌̾̾̕͝͝͝ ̵̛̪̪̋̉͝H̵̛̻̉̀̽̎̿́̏̀͑̊̋̓͝ĕ̸͇̱̼̖͛̎̈́̈͌̈́̌̓̒̅͘͝l̴̨̧̤̜̩̹̣̫͉̲̩͓̬̋̀͗́̽̑̓͘p̵̨̧̢̥̱͖̙͈̝͙̖̺̩̌̀.̷̢̛̛̛̹̼̮̣͙͕̮̦̠̫̩̑̐̀̆́̿͗̉̀̑̈́͜.̶̱̿͑̿͊͋̓̏̌̇̂͒͒̃.̷̙̱̫̬͕̹̦̹̝̭͗̾̍̌͆̈̄̏̓̚ͅ ̶̧̛̱̤̥̺̝̈́͊̀̇̆͛̉̋̍̾̑͝͠Ę̶̨̢̢͇̞̖̭̤̻̼̜̩̖̬̓̆q̴̼̲̝͔̹̞͎̝̔̚ũ̸̧̲͉͔̟̯͚͖̟͇̖͒̔̐̔͛̌̎̐̓̕͘͜͝͝í̶̡͈̰̙̗̮͙̘̰̗̥̜̇̈́̎̚͜p̷̢̦͉̣̠͒m̶̨̧̘̦̳͇̪̩̟͔̫̟͛̇̇͐̿ĕ̴͎̞͉̥͚̏͌̄̊́͝n̷̛̰̩͖̻͔̻̫͎̟͈̘͖͌̅̕t̴̡̞̳̭̺͈̭̫̩̒́͠͠ ̶̨̜̻̬̝͉̥̦̠͈̥̟̄̃b̶̲̺̪͓̯̄̿̈́͆̅͌̃̈́͝͠r̴̝̣̘̳̟̮̯̹̍͛̓̒̕o̵̢̢̢̫̻̭̯͈̗̼̦̊͊͋͋͑̀̒̓̋͘͝ͅk̶̡̢̖̱̰̯͚̭̞̭̫̖̿̏́̽̾̈̋̕̕̕̚͜e̴̢̡̨̻͓͕͈͚̻̟̠͆̾̇̂́̓̅̏̿̈̿̈́̑̽̐ͅ
̵̡̦̪̞͓̜̰̻͊̿͆̿́͗̐̆̎̽̓̔͌̕̕S̶̺͔͎̝͔͔͖̲̬͓͕̠͖̈́̓̇é̶̟̼͐͒͒͊̏̈́̌̂̚͝͝ņ̵̡̛̱͎̰͎̗͔͎̳͙̙͒̑͋͑̅̎͂̆̓̋̀͘d̶̡̛͖̦͇̭̹̞̳̪̲̩̃̔̇̉͛͗̾̕̚̕̚͝ ̶̱͚̰͔͓͚̫͙̪̦̟͋͛̃̒̅̽̅͜͝ͅ
̸̭̗̘̱̼̋͛̃̌
̶̦̙̆͂̎̿͊͗
̶̨͔̠̪̟̩͉̳̽̋̑̓̿̏́̒̚͘͜͝Ṯ̶̲̬̖̤̹͑̋̈́̿͆ͅȁ̶͕̱̘͎̰͉̭ͅr̴͓̮̲̙̩̹͚̈́͂͊̾̀̔͂̎́̀̚t̶̤̦̀͒̎͘ȃ̵͎̩̰̙̗͚̥͚͉̙̿̀̃͝ͅr̸̝͆͊͆̍͝ȕ̶̻̮͆̈̾̋̌s̵͇͚̺̯̼̪͇̜̰̠̄̓̊͑͋̃̕̚͝ ̸̨͓̰͖͐̇͒̀̃͗̌͂̀̏̂̈́̀̔̕
̵̢̣͍̠̦͊̂͗̈͆̆̎̉̒̃
̸̡̺̞͙̦̌͊͒̾̆F̸̛̝͖̪͇̊͑̈́̅̀̀̿̊̉́̋ì̷̧̗͉͔̣̖̬͍̐̈́̐͒̑̃̏͝͝ǹ̵̢͚̼͇͆̈͌͝ͅd̸͖͍̞̻̤̜̳̞̺͓̈́̌͂̂̉͒̔̓̋̅͒͜͠͝ͅ ̵̣͚̮͉̳̯̈̈m̵̧̱͍̼̝̑͘ẽ̶̛̥͈̟̳̯̻̗͙̙̈̽̃̃͆͋̄̀̌̉̚͘

She pressed what she hoped would be the send message, and she also hoped that this time, her friend would get the message, as it seemed to disappear from her menu. 

Closing the menu again, she took her claws out again and walked out of the cell just in time for a Shadow of a former guard to spot her and take out his weapon. Happily, it was just one right now, unlike last time, when she got jumped by a trap and got a whole platoon sent after her. She jumped, ready, and rushed forward, almost like a predator, pounced on the shadow, and slashed down on it. "I AM NOT YOUR PRISONER!" She said as the shadow disappeared.

@Mari

[Mari 1]

Raidou --> Mari: There is some strange activity coming from Tartarus. Can you check it out? You know the floor better than I.
Mari --> Raidou: K. Only accepting cause its you asking.
Raidou --> Mari: Thanks Mari. My Coordinates are XX, YY, ZZ if you need a quick escape
Mari --> Raidou: K.

It wasn't that Mari disliked the floor. Honestly, despite the severe side effects it had on ones mental state; the floor felt almost like a second home. In all its decrepit decay - it was nostalgic.  It was that she had to go out of her way to do something she didn't really feel like doing. Sure, there had been some rumours here and there - but Mari paid them little mind. After the Sundered Spire, and after the issues with Freyd, his Gemini - then her own...Mari had about enough of strange happenstances for quite some time. She was happy living in her own little world with her husband. Luckily, the woman was already on the floor, finishing a hunt that lay waste to a literal army of skeletons. So she was more willing to help him out this time. Although if she did have to use the last resort of her gate key... She'd probably ask him to help recoup costs. A hand clutched the small blue teardrop pendant that normally hung hidden beneath her shirt. Capable of warping her anywhere, only once - and at the hefty some of some cool 1 million col. Another reason she had been out fighting skeletons.

Raidou's message would have Mari head to Tartarus. The fortress loomed over her as Mari approached, prison like in its appearance the entrance guarded by a pair of hounds covered in mushrooms. Mari tilted her head to the side staring at their bright blue glowing eyes. That's a first. She hadn't seen any kind of fungal infection on any of the creatures of the 10th floor before. Unfortunate for them, though - Mari pulled her halberd out and with a single strike they both burst into flames, their anguished howls turned to whimpers, which turned to dust. There was no time for samples, or for dilly dallying. Any time spent on this floor would have an unseen clock slowly tick away at ones mental clarity, and Mari had already been here all day.

The large stone doors creaked as Mari pushed against them - some unseen force guiding them to slam against obsidian walls. Vibrations shook the entire building, and dust fell from the ceiling. It felt like no one had been here in years. So what was the strange activity Raidou was on about? 

Mari's footsteps echoed as she walked down the halls, she could hear the ambient sound of wailing - and if Mari hadn't spent so long in another prison - she'd have thought it be either NPCs, or other players - but the woman knew better. Every so often a bright spark followed by a plume of fire would ignite from the woman as she burnt any adversary down to piles of dust. 

Let's try and make quick work of this wretched place...

Vanity: @Raidou

[Azhoda 0]

It wasn't long before Az took her claws away from the shadow as it was slain by her in a flash. Yet her fighting one drew the ire of more enemies towards her. Within seconds, she saw shadows approach her. Was her mind playing tricks on her now, or did they look familiar? The spear and shield of the shadow charged at her in a way she had seen before. As she took the attack like that, she froze a bit and shook her head as she looked at the other shadow. The dagger-wielding shadow moved towards her. The face seemed so familiar to her. She froze again, but this time, it was a direct hit to her as she got pushed back for a moment. Her health bar deepening at her caused her to wake up a bit.

"You are not real!" she said as she took her claws out and moved to attack the two shadows. She jumped up and, almost like a wild beast, pounced on them, taking them out. "No, you can't be alive! You have died! STOP HUNTING ME! IT WAS NOT EVEN MY FAULT!" She said as she slashed her claw aggressively against the face of the shadow before it disappeared. She turned towards the other shadow with the spear and stared at it. "You saved me, it's only fair if I let you rest finally!" She said as she rushed forwards and slammed her shield right into the shadow's shield, knocking it over before jamming her claw into its chest and destroying it.

She sighed loudly as she stood up. She looked worse for wear, with red pixels and slash marks all over her body. She stared at the surroundings above her on the base floor, about three levels between her and the base. She yelled loudly, "AAAAAAAAAAAARG!" Standing in the open space, she looked up into the area above her. Her yell echoed loudly into all the halls as she stared ahead of her, letting out another sigh. Before her, she noticed how heavy and how hard it was for her to move or even think straight for a second. This was clearly because of a lack of sleep and food, but Az didn't seem to care. She took a few steps before just lumping against a wall and looking up towards the higher floors above her, exhausted and out of breath. She smiled a bit, "Well, if this is how my mind slowly loses it, I can say I'm happy Yuuri can't see it!"  She said to herself with a chuckle

@Mari